


Snowman

by Selemetis



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Fluff, Dancer Betty Cooper, F/M, Fluff, No Smut, Photographer Jughead Jones, Sorry guys, but this is just a cute fluffy au, inspired by sia - snowman, make out sessions in the last chapter, mentions of rough past, their parents suck but you know how wonderful they are, they both need a break, what can i do i love my suffering kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-07 16:39:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12845226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selemetis/pseuds/Selemetis
Summary: 1) Jughead Jones, a free-lance photographer, happens to get a chance to photograph a New York dance organization for Christmas. Betty Cooper is a dancer in the said organization. They are both early birds.2) Jughead loves the beauty as a concept and Betty is really, objectively beautiful.





	1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone! Welcome to a short, Christmas AU for Bughead! I was hoping to find a more creative name but since it was Sia's song that inspired me, I just wanted to use it as a title as well.  
> I hope you guys like it!

As the first snow of the year fell upon the glorious New York City, Jughead pulled the strap of his mailman bag a little bit harder. The address he was looking for was five minutes ahead of him, as the Maps app suggested.  

 

The moment he went through the doors of the dancing studio, he heard the low sound of a soft melody. It was pretty early for anyone to be there but apparently, someone was an early bird like Jughead himself.   
He took a few quiet steps and when he saw the blondie stretching her body with the help of a steel bar attached to a giant mirror, he stood breathless.   
_ Starstruck _ . There was no other term to describe exactly how he felt. The girl's golden locks were falling on her shoulders like silk and she seemed so peaceful as she rehearsed a couple of cool dance moves which Jughead could never name even if he wanted learn their names. She was wearing dark grey leggings and matching dark green top. Two strands of hair were tied behind her back, not letting them get in the way while she danced.    
The song on the other hand was nothing like the classic tunes he heard the first time he joined one of the rehearsals. It was soft and telling something about a snowman and the dancer seemed to love it more.    
His hands clutched his camera as he cleared his throat to give a heads up. 

The blondie lifted her head up like a rabbit in a forest and Jughead couldn’t help a smile creeping on his face. The girl’s eyes got soften as she recognized the photographer’s face from the last rehearsal where their organizator introduced him to the dancers. 

“Hey,” she said with the kindest of smiles on her symmetrical face. “Mr. Jones, was it?”

Jughead couldn’t gathered his thoughts for a few minutes. How did she know his name? Oh, right, the introducing and all. But how the hell he didn’t recognize her right away? He mentally kicked himself for being such an idiot sometimes for a so called great observer.

“Jughead.” he corrected her, automatically.  _ Mental kick #2. _ Her burrows knitted just for a second but then she smiled.  _ Damn.  _

“Betty.” she introduced herself as well. Jughead nodded and smiled slowly.

“Uh, I didn’t mean to interrupt, I was just here to check some lights and all for today’s shoot.”

“Oh, right, of course.” She rushed to pick up her belongings. “I’m just an early bird, sorry, I’ll leave you to it.”

“No, no, no,” Jughead objected -- maybe a little too eager. “I, uh, I don’t wanna interrupt or anything. You keep doing your practice and I’ll just… check the lights and all.”

Betty smiled kindly and turned her back at him, keeping the eye contact through the mirror. She checked her phone and put the song on repeat, as the tune filled the room once again. It was a very soft song, like her movements. Not that Jughead was  _ creeping on  _ her, but you know, they were in the same room and he couldn’t help but notice her dancing.

She was dancing with such a grace, though. Okay, well, she was actually stretching before for the practice  _ but still. _ For almost over 20 years, Jughead had this habit of watching everything in sync around him. When he was little, he used to watch the rain or the snow for hours -- or the old carousel back in Riverdale Fun Fair. It was just… things moving in a certain rhythm always put him at ease and this blondie dancer was one of them.

After everything was covered, he stood awkwardly and tried to find something to do other than watching this Betty girl still dancing to the same song. Betty, probably realizing his agony, stopped and smiled at him through the mirror, again. There was it, again, under the soft yellow light and with this golden locks on her shoulders, Jughead thought she was really, undeniably beautiful.

He cleared his throat and gave her a smile in return. 

“Can I take a picture of you?” He blurted out of nowhere.  _ Mental kick #3. _ He definitely sounded like a creep. 

Betty’s smile turned into a small frown.

“But I don’t have any preparations,” she said. “I mean, no makeup or hair fix or such. That would make a terrible shot for the magazine.”

Jughead gave the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. Okay, maybe she didn’t think of him a creep then.

“No, no, you don’t need any preparations or whatsoever, I just, uhm, I wanted to--”

“So this is not for the shoot?” Betty questioned with an eyebrow arched. Jughead swallowed at her expression and shook his head, a black stray of hair fell on his eyes. He owed her an explanation, big time.

“Look, I don’t wanna be sound like a creep but… There is thing about me,” he starts and Betty turns her face at him, arms crossed but a glint of an amusement in her bright green eyes. “I love capturing the beauty when I see it. Like… Okay, don’t get me wrong, I really like to appreciate the natural beauty whenever I can and you  _ are  _ beautiful.” This time, both of her eyebrows arched. “Objectively, I mean.” His hands were still around his camera, knuckles getting white slowly.

Betty studied him for a few seconds and Jughead felt like an idiot high school weirdo all over again under her gaze.

“Spoken like a true artist, huh?” she said after all. Jughead felt like the knot in his stomach loosened a little and chuckled.

“At least trying to be,” he said admittedly. “So, what do you say? Only one picture, I swear. And I won’t publish it on anywhere without your permission. And you can sue me whenever you want.” he added, hoping the stress in his tone was suppressed by his joking smirk.

Betty giggled at his nervousness and shrugged. 

“Okay.” she said. “How would you like to take a photograph of me, Jughead?”

“Just in your natural habitat,” Jughead said and moved closer to her. He lost the teenager attitude and went full professional. “You, uh, turn to the mirror like before, stay in the position you feel relaxed the most and look at the camera through the mirror like you did before.” He realized that she was bug-eyed boring into him and stopped talking. “Sorry,” he said slowly. “Sometimes, when I work, I can be… well, bossy is the least harmful word I can come up with.”

“No, no,” Betty said with the same kind smile on her face. “I think it’s really…  _ cute  _ of you being passionate about what you are doing.”

Jughead tried not to prey on her word of choice but he allow himself to smile and maybe blush a bit.

Betty faced the mirror, her hands on the steel bar and eyes on the camera. He wasn’t in the framing, he deliberately picked a corner where he can take the photo but not ruining it with his reflection in the shoot. 

He took a few pictures, all of them in the sake of art. 

“Okay.” he said, looking at Betty’s relaxed expression at his sound. “Thank you, really.”

“For what?” she smiled. “I should be the one thanking you for this! Can I see?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Jughead said and showed the pictures to Betty. She was actually really tiny next to him, he thought. Like he could easily pick her up and--

“Oh my God, Jughead, these are beautiful!” she pulled him from his thoughts. Jughead nodded knowingly, not even trying to be humble about his work.

“I told you, it’s all about the beauty. Camera only helps me to memorize it.”

“Well,” Betty went to her backpack and digged it for a few minutes. When she got up, she was holding a pen and paper. “I’d like to memorize these photos as well. Here, that’s my e-mail. You can send them to me, right?”

“Of course,” he said, “I owe you anyway.”

“Good.” Betty nodded. “I… uh, I’m gonna head out since there is nearly three hours to the rehearsal. See you around, I guess?”

“Oh… Okay, yeah, sure.” Jughead nodded as he watched Betty packed her belongings. She gave him a little smile as she passed him by quickly. He squeezed his nose bridge and sweared under his breath.  _ Fuck it, _ he thought. Early or not, this was a wonderful chance for a good cup of coffee.

“Hey, Betty?” he called her name, looking at the direction she was going. 

“Yeah?” Her smile was  _ the brightest _ . 

“I feel like I owe you at least a coffee. There’s a place I know around the corner, what do you say?”

She gave him a little nod and tilted her head a little.

“I’d love that, Jughead.”


	2. Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty and Jughead goes for a coffee. Hint: the writer likes the excessive amount of personal information exchanges between the characters. You have been warned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp. here they are, two strangers, bonding over coffee... i just love these two and the good old clichés. 
> 
> visit me on tumblr: newurleans
> 
> (by the way sorry about the grammer mistakes beforehand. english is my second language and this work isn't edited by my betas.)
> 
> enjoy!

“Don’t get me wrong, I do love winter and the Christmas season.” Jughead kept on arguing as they walked towards to the coffee shop. “I mean, this beanie gets easier to wear and all but I just… The society corrupts the meaning of Christmas.” he added in an over dramatic voice.  
Betty chuckled at his explanation as she tightened the scarf around her neck.   
“We wouldn’t have Christmas if it wasn’t for the society, Jug.” she defended her favorite time of the year. “And please, look around you! Everything is so… shiny and beautiful!”  
Jughead couldn’t argue that. But he wasn’t going to go down without a fight.  
“Well, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. I love a good ‘snowed in’ situation as much as any millennial but capitalism kills the vibe, Betty, you can’t deny that. And also, literally half of the world celebrates the New Year with surfboards and cool lemonades but you don’t see the whole world go with the summer theme. That’s capitalism in action right under our noses.”  
Betty rolled eyes at him jokingly and nudged his arm with her shoulder.  
“You are a killjoy.” she mocked with him. “There, I said it. You are officially a buzzkill, Jughead Jones.”  
“Whatever makes you sleep at night peacefully, Nutcracker Ballerina. But for the record, I’d like to be known as having a realistic aspect kind of a guy.”   
Betty laughed at the choice of nickname and shook her head. Her hair now was in a ponytail form, bouncing with every movement of her head. The snow was falling slowly, there was no need for umbrella or such. Betty’s scarf -which was equal to the size of New York City, Jughead was sure of it- was protecting her neck and shoulders, her black coat was covering her till her knees. Jughead, on the other hand, had chosen to wear the same denim jacket with wool interior he had wore during the whole fall season. First of all, it was cozy as heck and second of all, fuck it, he loved that jacket. His beanie, now being a reasonable choice thanks to the weather, was present as always like a cherry on top of a milkshake.   
As they entered the little cafe named Sweetcoffee, Jughead filled his lungs with the familiar scent of fresh coffee. Betty, on the other hand, was examining the third wave coffee shop with a very enthusiastic expression on her face while unwrapping her scarf. There wasn’t actually a crowd in the cafe -- just the way Jughead liked it. And the customers were so caught up in their worlds, it put Jughead at ease. Betty chose a table next to the windows facing the street and Jughead followed her. His favorite table was the one right behind the one she sat and he considered as a win.   
“You check the menu, I’ll say hi to the owner, okay?”   
“You know the owner of this place?” There was the arched eyebrow again. Jughead rubbed the back of his neck as a small laughter escaped from his lips.  
“Yeah, he’s my best friend’s father, actually.” He looked across the room and saw a redhead coming through their way. “Speak of the devil.” he pointed the redhead. His best friend came closer with a big smile on his face and gave Jughead’s shoulder a soft fist.  
“What’s up, bro?”  
“Hey, Arch,” Jughead smiled. “Archie, this is Betty Cooper. Betty, this is Archie Andrews, my--”  
“Life saver and coach, also brother from another mother.” Archie completed Jughead’s sentence as he reached for Betty’s hand. That was Archie, flirting with pretty girls without knowing what he was actually doing.   
Betty took his hand and shook firmly.   
“Nice to meet you, Archie.” she said. “I guess you own the place? Such a wonderful interior design, to be honest. I loved it already!”  
“Thanks!” Archie said and gave them a menu. “You two check the menu and I’ll be right up.”  
“Hey, where’s Mr. Andrews?” Jughead asked before he let him go.   
“Ah,” Archie eyed Betty for a second and seemed like thinking about if he should speak in front of her. Then his gaze lingered on Jughead and shrugged himself. “My mom is in town, he said, uhm, they’d talk stuff over a coffee.”  
“Fred is aware of he owns a coffee shop, right?”  
Archie rolled eyes at him and turned to Betty who pretends to be interested in the menu.  
“This man...” he said smiling and shaking his head in a mocking disbelief. “And he was supposed to be the smart one.”  
Betty giggled as his comment as Jughead sat down the chair across hers.   
“Sorry about Archie. He can be very… human person.”  
Betty kept laughing as she eyed the menu.   
“Human person. Well that’s a term I can use from now on.” She raised her gaze at him. “But don’t worry, he seems nice. Like what would one call golden hearted jock back in high school.”  
“That he was.” Jughead agreed. “And I think still is… Archie is one big Golden Retriever, actually. Seems like he is only here for the fun and all from afar but actually is a very good friend. Believe me, I should know.”  
“You sound like you know what you are talking about so I’ll have it.” Betty said. “How long you two have been friends?”  
“Since the sandbox, actually. We were like… three, tops, when we met. Our fathers had known each other since even longer so we were bound to be friends at some point.” He laughed at the memories they shared as children.   
“That must be lovely,” Betty nodded. “My best friend and I met back in the sophomore year of high school, we’ve not been friends as long as you guys but I share the sentiment.”  
“Best friends get the job done, what can I say? So, have you decided?”

As Jughead ordered his usual Americano and Betty went for a Flat White, they subtly cleared the 20 questions off of the list (He was from Riverdale, NY and she’d been in New York City for a decade now. He had a little sister and she had two older siblings. His dad was still in Riverdale, her parents moved to Chicago to be close to her brother but they lived in the city before that. He was from NYU, she graduated from NYADA) and covered the basics. But still, there was no mention of significant others.   
“What are your plans for holiday?” she asked. “Not work, I hope.” she cleared her throat as he gazed her with an arched brow. “For your sake, I mean.”  
He scoffed.   
“Well, I was gonna go visit my dad,” he began as he studied Betty’s face for a few seconds, “But, uh, you know, change of plans in the last minute.”  
“Oh I’m sorry to hear that!” Her smile fell. “Nothing bad, I hope?”  
He took a deep breath before he unleashed the whole tragic background thingie.   
“Me and my girlfriend-” Betty’s interested eyes freezed for a second and Jughead felt the urge to explain it, “my ex-girlfriend I mean, we were gonna go back to Riverdale together but she decided to kiss a pal of us after a fight we had so... you know, the plans got cancelled." He tried to keep it casual as much as he could and to be interested in his coffee spoon that he didn’t even use.  
“Oh boy.” Betty said with a sullen face, pouting a little. Jughead laughed at the irony.  
“That’s exactly what she said when I walked in on them. Also, this is probably too much information from a guy you just met a few hours ago. I understand if-- ”  
“Oh my god, Jug, I’m so sorry to hear that!” she interrupted him. And when he looked at her in the eye, he could she actually meant that. “Of course it’s not much info, I asked your plans for holiday. You are just kind to explain, if anything. How are you dealing with it, tho?”  
Jughead could laugh at her gentle words. When was the last time someone actually thanked him for being kind? Kindness neither was his thing nor something he’d seen from other people. Well, except for Archie but there was no need to point that out.   
“Meh,” he waved his hand as if nothing. “It wasn't anything serious, actually. I dated Toni because I was trying to forget my high school sweetheart and she was there to help, I guess. Not the nicest excuse I had, to be honest.”  
Betty smiled carefully at his words and tilted her head to the left. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him with the glints of curiosity. She ordered water before she spoke.  
“Did it work, though?” she asked finally.  
“What worked?” Jughead crossed his legs and leaned back on the chair.   
“The rebound.” she clarified. “Did you got over the girl before this Toni person?”  
Jughead realized he never really had thought of that before. He tilted his head just like she did before and pursed his lips.  
“Yeah, I guess it did. I haven’t thought about Trula for a very long time now.” He felt good about himself because, boy, when he was in high school, Trula was something.  
Betty shrugged and mimicked knowingly.  
“Then she wasn’t anything serious neither.”  
He raised his eyebrows at her audacity. Normally he would be really annoyed at someone he just met commenting on his feelings but Betty was getting somewhere with her know-it-all attitude. Well, to be perfectly honest in Jughead’s case, she was pretty cute while being so.  
“How come?” he asked.  
Betty moved at her chair and put both of her elbows at the table, leaning forward slightly.   
“When the rebound relationship works, you know it.” she said with a hint of a smirk on the corner of her pink lips. Jughead mimicked her actions.  
“Speaking from experience, I see?”  
She giggled at his assumption and raised her hands at the defeat.   
“Something like that.” She said. “Are you ready for some extra information from the girl you just met?”  
“Oh,” he laughed. “I am nothing if I’m not a fan of excessive personal information.”  
“It’s on, Jones.” she giggled but her expression got serious in a second. “It’s nothing big, actually.” she started. “When I was in my freshman year, I liked this jock who never even had seen me before. He was two years my senior, he was playing soccer and I thought we were friends, though, because he worked in the school newspaper after a detention he got -- anyway. I pinned after him for months and months but then he--”  
“Let me guess, went for the cheerleaders instead of you?” Jughead presumed. Betty held his gaze for a second longer than it should be and shook her head.   
“Good guess, but no.” she said. “Because I was the cheerleader. He went for the poetry club girl.”  
Jughead rolled his eyes exaggeratedly.   
“Of course you were a cheerleader.” he said. “This explains your hard work to keep up with the other dancers like coming early to rehearsals and all.”  
Betty pursed her lips and nodded her head in appreciation.   
“Observation at its finest.” she said. “Like a true artist should be.”  
He could feel his ears going red.   
“Anyways,” Betty waved her hand at kept going on her story. “When my family moved to Manhattan I started a new school where I didn’t know anyone and felt utterly alone. I missed even Chuck, that jock back hometown, by the way he was a major jerk. We learned after his date with Ethel -- the poetry club girl. But, you know, my crush got bigger with the addition of loneliness and that’s when I met Kevin and Veronica -- my two best friends.”   
She smiled at the mention of her best friends and Jughead thought it was (he would never say that word out loud) utterly adorable.   
“They told me that I needed a rebound and they knew just the person for it. Reggie, my dearest high school sweetheart.” She giggled as if there was an inside joke about this.   
Jughead moved on his chair and wondered if this Reggie dearest was still around and still a sweetheart.   
“So?” Jughead asked when she stopped talking. “This rebound… did it work?”  
“Oh instantly,” Betty shook herself from the memories. “I didn’t even think about Chuck after a month or so but that’s when I realized that I never loved Reggie. I mean I liked him for sure and we dated for like two years or so but he was never… the one? I guess? When I went to NYADA, I broke up with him and he said and I quote: ‘No worries, Betty Coop, we had a good run. See you at Veronica’s.’ So when you think about it, we never really cared the relationship itself. And I never really liked Chuck that much either.”  
“Enlightening.” Jughead said. He could see the message she initiated. And yes, Toni was just like that, more or less. What actually had broken his heart wasn’t even the end of the relationship. The betrayal left a bitter taste in his mouth. “But at least Reggie didn’t cheat on you with anyone.”  
“Well, yes.” Betty admitted. “But still, when the relationship loses its appeal, the reasons of ending it don’t really seem that important. That just means she’s a horrible person and you two were on a borrowed time anyway.”  
“She wasn’t always horrible.” Jughead murmured but yes, Betty was right. “But hey, I didn’t mean to lash out all my relationship past on the first--” She arched both of her eyebrows and he realized what she could’ve thought he implied. “On the first day we met.” he ended his words.   
“I felt like we both needed it.” she said. “I just love talk in general and you seem like you don’t talk as much as you should.”   
“Observation at its finest.” Jughead parroted her words. “Like a true artist should be.” Was it just him or did she blushed a bit?   
“As delightful as this conversation was,” Betty smiled and tried to reach her bag behind her chair, “I need to head back and I think you should, too.”  
“Please,” Jughead said while the two of them got up. “I invited you for the coffee, don’t even try and humiliate my fragile masculinity.” But Archie was even faster than them.   
“Come on, it’s on the house.” As he reached them. “It’s not like everyday Jug shows up for a coffee with a--” Jughead threw daggers at him with his eyes. “--friend, man. I was gonna say friend.”   
Now he was literally blushing. Like a teenager. Wonderful.   
“Thank you, Archie,” Betty chuckled. “It was so nice to meet you.”  
“Right back at ya. Will we see much of you later?” Archie Andrews, everyone, Jughead Jones’ lifelong pain in the ass.  
“Like any other millennial New Yorker, I consider myself a coffee addict and aesthetics appreciator so I’ll be around, yes.” Betty said and Jughead gave a relieved breath.   
This was one smart girl and Jughead felt somewhere up there, there was some good powers throwing him on her way. 

During their walk, Jughead practised at least ten ways of asking her out so when Betty stopped for a second before they got in, he thought he was having a stroke or something. It had happened a while since the last time he asked someone out.  
“Betty?”  
“Jughead,” Betty smiled at him. “I get really hungry after the rehearsals, that’s a fact.” she said, silking the snow on his shoulders. “I could use a dinner.”  
“I love dinner.” he blurted out loud. “I could use a dinner as well.” She tried to hold a smile back and Jughead understood what he should say. “Would you like to have this said dinner together?”  
“Well that’s out of nowhere, now. I should check my agenda and get back to you in a couple of hours.” Betty said in a make-believe seriousness.  
“You are just being mean, Cooper.” Jughead chuckled. “Don’t mock me about food, that’s some serious business.”  
“See you at the rehearsal, Jug.” she said and got back in the building before him. 

And she looked back.


	3. Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oversharing never hurt anybody. Well, at least not in this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand the last part!   
> Thank you guys for all the kudos and comments, I hope you'll love this chapter, too.   
> Warning: Two cheese balls coming through!

It was their third date, when Jughead finally had the guts to kiss Betty when he dropped her off to her home at Washington Heights and it was that night Betty finally asked him if he wanted to stay for a while.

Her apartment was more or less at the same size at his up in Hamilton Heights. One bedroom and one living room, classic bachelor apartment. But something in her place made it more…  _ home _ . Which, in many aspects, was a term for Jughead looked from a bit afar when he grew up. Not that he was raised on the streets but calling a place  _ home _ is sacred in his mind and he always appreciated it when he saw one. Betty’s place was certainly one of them.

“Would you like to have anything to drink?” she asked from the kitchen while he unbuttoned his coat and sat down at the couch. 

“What do you have in mind?” he asked back.

“Well,” she came to the living room and smiled at his relax behavior. His beanie was off and like she said to Veronica and Cheryl the other day at lunch, it was a sight for sore eyes. “I have coffee, mineral water, wine and hot chocolate. I usually go for a glass of wine after a long day but I do make some mean hot chocolate. What’s your pick?”

Jughead looked at her pleased face after the mentions of hot chocolate and he wasn’t really a big fan of alcohol so the choice was made. 

“I’m gonna try this mean hot chocolate, I guess. I mean it’s already a part of the Christmas season, right?”

“You’ll never let that one go, will you?” she giggled and headed back to the kitchen. 

It was nice actually, this little flirting of theirs. Jughead was enjoying her company, which was a rare occasion according to Archie since Jughead wasn’t really a social butterfly in any areas. He couldn’t deny that fact, he’d been single for the last… three weeks and he was already interacting with another young woman. But hey, to be perfectly honest, who wouldn’t feel comfortable around Betty? On a normal day Jughead would definitely avoid her  _ sunshine-and-rainbows _ type of vibe but maybe it was really because of Christmas spirit or maybe after all those years of dark and brooding youth, he actually liked the idea of a clear sky. He could go on and on with this mediocre metaphors. 

Yes, he liked being cheesy around her, sue him. 

 

When Betty came back with two cups of hot chocolate with full of marshmallows, Jughead was distracted by his beyond extra thoughts. She sat next to him, placing the mugs on the long, wooden coffee table. Legs curled under her, left arm on the back of the couch, her chin resting on her hand. She looked so peaceful. Jughead laid back on the couch, his head still on the back on the back of the couch but tilting to Betty’s side to look at her face. They didn’t talk for a while and it was enough, it was okay. 

“Any change on the Christmas plans?” Betty asked, lowering her voice. He couldn’t be sure if she was asking about his ex or literally his plans. 

“Well, I talked to my dad and he said it’s okay if didn’t wanna go home. My sister is spending the holidays at my mother’s anyways, so… No, no change.”

“Oh.” she said. “You didn’t wanna go to your mother’s either?”

Jughead took a sip from his hot chocolate to calculate his thoughts on the matter.

“My mother and I… we are not at the best of the terms, lately.” He stopped for a second and chuckled his poor explanation. “And by lately I mean for the last decade or so.”

He didn’t exactly have an opinion on what would Betty’s reaction to this but he certainly didn’t expect her to chuckle as well.

“Tell me about it.” Betty said with a tone of sarcasm in her voice. “I don’t know when was the last time me and my mother were on the same page about anything at all.” He reached at her hand on the couch and gave it a soft squeeze. “Oh wait,” she kept talking with the same sarcasm. “Also a decade ago, when I told her I want to be a dancer. She considers me as a traitor against her efforts on raising me. Lovely woman, my mother.”

“I bet mine considers me as a traitor as well.” he murmured. “When she left my dad I stood by him and refused to leave with her. Not that she insisted on it though, but still.” 

“Look at us.” Betty shook her head in disbelief, laughing softly. “Mid-twenties and still trying to get over our moms.” 

Jughead reflected her laughter and shrugged.

“I’d get over my mother if my dad was a stronger figure but I get the sentiment here.”

“Oh boy,” Betty shook her head again but holding her gaze at him. “Weak fathers and overpowered mothers. Seems like a fun story for both of us.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call my mother overpowered. More like a survivor, doing what it takes to survive. Even if that means leaving her 15 years old son with a deadbeat alcoholic father.” Jughead blurted out. 

He couldn’t look at Betty in the eye and focused his gaze at his soft blue mug. He wasn’t the type of an oversharing guy -- but when he did, he unleashed  _ everything _ and this could be overwhelming for the other people. He could feel Betty’s pitiful eyes on him. It would be a lot easier if he could just pick up his walls back and gave a sarcastic comment on Betty’s soft eyes but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. 

“You know how I told you when we first met, my parents are living near to my brother in Chicago?” he nodded. “Yeah well that’s because he’d been missing for 25 years. We -actually me and my sister- found him ten years ago. My parents gave him up for adoption when he was born. My mother was 16, so was my dad. He didn’t want the baby and my mother couldn’t get an abortion. So… Now my brother, who is slightly a stranger still, is a 35 year old FBI agent working back in Chicago. And my parents thought it would be better to get in touch with him more since both of their daughters turned out to be disappointments.”

He looked at her in awe. Her monologue ended with a sigh of relief and she shrugged as well. 

“I don’t think anyone can consider you as a disappointment.” Jughead said with a soft smile on his face. 

“Wait till you meet my parents then.” she said and her eyes widened with the realization of her words. Jughead couldn’t gathered his thoughts for a second. “I didn’t mean like…” Betty tried to explain. “Like… you know…” she trailed off. 

Jughead didn’t pry on her implication. It was too early to talk about this kind of stuff. 

“Well,” he cut her off. “If they are even slightly better than my family, I’d consider it as a win.”

Betty’s reddened face brightened with a smile as she stretched her legs. She came a little closer and held Jughead’s hand on his right leg. 

“You have a very nice soul, Jughead Jones.” she murmured before she kissed him. Jughead smiled before kissing her back. He cupped her face with his empty hand caressed her cheek with his thumb. He traced her lips with the tip of his tongue and when she opened her mouth the deepen the kiss he couldn’t help his groan. She was tasted like hot chocolate and mint. He could go on and on kissing her for hours, if it wasn’t for the need of air. 

He smiled at the pink on her cheeks. 

“You were right about the hot chocolate.” he teased. “It does taste damn amazing.”

She laughed at his comment and rolled her eyes playfully. 

“I know my way around the kitchen, Jones.” she played back.

Jughead dramatically put his hand on his chest.

“A woman after my own fragile heart.”

They laughed at his statement but Betty’s face gotten serious after a moment. She kept holding his hand firmly. 

“How are things with your father now?” she asked. “I understand if you don’t wanna talk about it, though.” she added quickly. “I know it kills… the mood and all.”

Jughead chuckled as he tucked a stray of golden lock behind her ear. 

“I highly doubt that talking to you can kill our  _ mood and all. _ It’s mostly what we do.” Betty arched an eyebrow. “I mean,” he rushed. “I like it. I really do, I’m not much of a talker usually.” He cleared his throat. “Talking to you doesn’t bother me in the slightest.”

Betty gave a reassuring squeeze on her hand.

“I like talking to you, too.” she said and waited for him to speak first.

“As for your question,” he began, “My father is doing a lot better now. He is on the wagon again, has a job and we see each other over holidays. I used to stay at Archie’s when he wasn’t himself. But he is doing just fine now.” 

“I am happy to hear that.” she said. “I hope you’ll get to see him soon.” 

“He’ll probably spend his holiday with his gang this year.” he murmured. “Kinda better than being alone I guess.”

“ _ Gang _ ?” Her eyes widened.

“Don’t get me wrong.” he said. “Just a bunch of biker dudes making a remake of every possible cheesy gang movie ever. They are harmless for the last few years or so.”

“Were you in it?” Betty asked. Her tone wasn’t judging or anything and she wasn’t trying to hide the curiosity over it.

“Yeah.” he admitted. “For a few years back in high school. Eventually Archie talked me out of it and we left the gang behind us, came to New York.”

“Archie was in it, too? He didn’t seem like a gang member.”

“And I do?” he mocked but stopped her when she tried to explain. “No, Archie wasn’t in the gang. But my ex, Toni, was a part of it and when I left the gang, she left it with me.”

“Oh.” was the only thing she said. “That is, uh, very selfless of her.” She was trying to keep it casual. Jughead rolled eyes at her.

“Please.” he said. “She was a good friend, she really was but me leaving the gang was kind of an exit ticket for her as well. I don’t think it was entirely selfless.”

“Well, I am not gonna lie and praise your ex girlfriend after making out with you so I’ll take it.” she said with a nervous giggle. Honestly, Jughead thought, how on earth one could consider her as a disappointment even in the slightest? 

“Betty you are…” he started. He was trying to find the right words. “You are  _ ethereal _ . I’m sorry I can’t come up with a more sophisticated word and I probably sound like a cheesy neanderthal right now but  _ seriously. _ ”

Betty giggled at his effort on complimenting her. However her hand under his felt cold. 

“Hey, are you cold?” he asked, burrows knitted.

“Oh, just a bit.” Betty said as if she didn’t realize it. “Oh my god you must be cold, too! Wait, I have a blanket around here.” She got up and Jughead regretted even saying anything. He wanted her come back and snuggle his side and maybe the two of them could figure a way to get warm together. 

Betty came back with a big auburn-brown flannel blanket. She sat down and wrapped it around both of them carefully. She was sitting close to him again, fortunately. He reached for her hand and she played with a stray of hair on his forehead. 

“What’s up with  _ your _ parents?” Jughead asked. “I mean, you said they see you as a disappointment and pardon my French but this is bullshit.”

She gave him a small smile and shrugged.

“When I was in high school, my mom wanted me to be a journalist like them. They owned the local newspaper in our old town but they sold it before we moved in New York.” she began. “My mom wanted me to follow their path but make better decisions about it. For a while I thought I wanted it, too, you know. Becoming a journalist and solving crimes in a very Nancy Drew way and wanted to be my most perfect version for my family… But then I realized, I didn’t want it for myself. I took extracurriculars like the cheerleading team and dancing classes and I discovered what I really wanted to do with my life. 

“It was a very High School Musical moment of my life, to be honest. I told them that I want to dance and maybe, hopefully, make it to Broadway one day and my mom thought it was a terrible joke. She tried to talk me out of it on a daily basis for the next two years and when I was a senior…” she stopped and took a deep breath. “I snapped. I started to rebel and refused to take any of their crap but it was too much sometimes and it eventually led a very dark way to my mental health. My mother thought I was trying to get their attention but Veronica took me to a therapist and they contacted my family. Eventually they let me apply to NYADA and I still wait for my big Broadway break to rub it in their faces.” she ended her words with a joyless laughter.

“That’s tough, Betty.” Jughead murmured and pulled her to his said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Her head was on his chest now. “We both have very bad mothers, thank the powers up there we are both cute and smart.” he tried to laugh.

“You think I’m cute and smart?” she pushed. Jughead chuckled.

“Not only you are but so am I. Universe is working in our favors.” 

Betty put a hand on his face and raised her head to kiss him again. It started as a soft one but turned into a heated make out session in no time. However this was still an early stage for whatever they had between them. 

When she ended the kiss he put his forehead on hers and held her close by her waist. 

“Do you wanna spend the night here… like this?” Betty asked. Jughead swallowed slowly and nodded. 

“I’d love to.” he answered and pulled the blanket over them, not letting Betty scooch away. Since Betty’s couch was a big one, he laid down and pulled her close, her head and right hand on his chest again. He wrapped his arm around his waist and left a kiss on top of her head. Without any argue, this was the best sleep he had ever had on a couch. 

 

***

Two weeks after their cuddling, finally the showtime has arrived. Betty was slightly nervous but everything went well, people loved her (seriously, why wouldn’t they?) and some of them actually appreciated Jughead’s work in the magazine and in the pamphlets. 

In the after party, Jughead and Betty went as each other’s plus ones. She was wearing a dark green dress, matching with Jughead’s tie. And yes, Jughead was wearing a tie, but it was worth it because Betty was the absolute queen in the party. She even convinced him to dance for a few slow songs and Jughead wouldn’t admit it to anybody but her that he actually enjoyed it. 

“Oh would you look at that coincidence?” Betty asked in fake surprised tone and pointed somewhere above Jughead’s head. “Is that a mistletoe or what?”

Jughead tried to hold his smile back. 

“Is that so?” he played along. “And at this time of the year? What a rare occasion!”

“I can’t believe it either,” Betty couldn’t help her laughter. “What do we do now?”

“I don’t know about you but I will use my chance to kiss the most beautiful woman in the room.” he said and leaned to her lips. Not being a fan of PDA, he kept it short but made a mental note to get back at it later. 

“I may kiss a very handsome photographer as well.” she said after the kiss and gave him a peck.

“What can I say?” Jughead laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I am a sucker for the Christmas traditions, Betty Cooper.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this story, leaving comments and kudos always apreciated!   
> Come visit me on tumblr: newurleans.tumblr.com  
> Hope to see you guys around!

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo... penny for your thoughts?


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